Property Tax Rates by state!

My wife ran the numbers, because all our friends were planning on moving for lower taxes when they retired. But when she ran all the numbers you may pay less in one tax, but more in others, and a lot of it just becomes a wash. And how am I going to get all this equipment up the stairs and moved, and what kind of shop will I have?

So a few did move away, only to tell us that there are some real gotchas in other states that you don't realized until you get there.
I think it was Money magazine that ran an article many years ago and compared the total tax for each state, and found there was little difference. Their conclusion, it takes roughly the same amount of money to run government, so what they don’t get from one hand, they take from the other. My wife thinks like you, she doesn’t want to even imagine having to move my shop.
 
Property tax is a tax on wealth, since it is based on valuation. Same for taxing vehicles on valuation. It does not consider ability to pay. If you can't afford the tax due to lack of income, you will be forced to borrow, or sell assets.

During the Great Depression, more assets were lost to unpaid property taxes than any other reason.

Property tax is an artifact of pre-industrial society, when land was wealth, because farming and harvesting/developing natural resources were how most people supported themselves. Inventory/Personal Property Taxes on business was a way to expand this past taxing land. Income tax is a relatively recent development, and created a way to tax things like intellectual property and skills.

When questioned, most property-tax-based governments justify the levy's based on "demand for services" such as streets. The argument goes that the homeowner is getting a benefit from the streets by being able to access their property, and for others providing services to use those streets when they provide services to the homeowner. The problem with this argument is that these benefits are not closely linked to the value of the property, but on demand for the public services. A more valuable home doesn't always require more public services.

It boils down to "We have always done it this way" as justification.
 
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